Soldier of Fortune magazine interviews the elusive "Mike", owner of Path Security...
Here at Soldier of Fortune magazine we've run many articles about Blackwater, the amazing "private security contractor" company that's achieved such outstanding results during the Iraq war. Now we're proud to present the first ever public interview with "Mike", the elusive and secretive owner of one of Blackwater's competitors, the elite private military company Path Security, commonly known in the business as "Psychos for Hire".
Soldier of Fortune: Thanks for your time, Mike. Can you give us some reasons why a potential client should choose Path Security instead of Blackwater, for example for a corporate management security job in a third-world country?
Mike: OK, you're talking about a bodyguard type job, right? Well, it's simply a question of willingness to use extreme force whenever necessary, or even if not absolutely necessary, just to be on the safe side, you know? My men are all very experienced ex-special forces guys, and they're all ready to kill at a moments notice. See, my guys and the ones that work for Blackwater are all typically ex-Navy SEALS or similar, but the difference is that I try to recruit the ones who have had discipline problems due to use of excessive force. In other words, my guys are really the elite of the elite!
SoF: So basically you're saying that Path Security is the same as Blackwater, only deadlier?
M: That's right. Remember that incident at Nisoor Square in Baghdad in 2007, when some Blackwater men killed 17 Iraqi civilians? If that had been my guys guarding those U.S. State Department vehicles, I can assure you that the number of casualties would have been at least twice as high. When my guys get going, there's nothing left that moves, let me tell you.
SoF: Sounds impressive, Mike. It's recently been revealed that the CIA had contracted with Blackwater back in 2004 to carry out some assassinations, but it never worked out. You have any comments on that?
M: Sorry, I can't talk about ongoing business.
SoF: Wow, are you implying that the CIA dropped Blackwater and have hired Path Security instead?
M: Sorry, I've already said too much. But like you said yourself, Blackwater wasn't successful, so ...
SoF: OK, I can understand. One thing that Blackwater has been criticized for is that Erik Prince, the owner, is a devout Catholic, and that Blackwater's involvement in the Iraq war can be viewed as a kind of "crusader mentality". There have even been accusations that Blackwater has murdered Iraqis based on this religious ideology. Comments?
M: Look, I'm not going to start criticizing Blackwater or Erik Prince. But I can assure you that my guys are equal opportunity killers. We'll gun down Christians, atheists, Jews, whatever, if that's part of the job. OK?
SoF: OK, that sounds very professional. One last question, Mike: Path Security is commonly known in security circles as "Psychos for Hire". Not all that flattering - or what do you think?
M: Hell, I'm the one who created that slogan! Don't you realize that the "path" in Path Security stands for psychopath? Look, when the bad guys have psychopath killers, and you know they're out gunning for you, isn't it nice to have some even nastier psychos of your own taking care of you?
To be continued...